Application server for dispatching physiological signals in a hospital, in real time

• US 8,363,646 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2009
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Gass, Raymond
• Primary Examiner(s): HO, DUC CHI
• Application Number:
  US13/003,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20110274013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,299 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7465 Arrangements for interactive communication between patient and care services, e.g. by using a telephone network telemetry of measured physiological signal A61B5/0002
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/04 Electric stethoscopes microphones, acoustic transducers therefor H04R
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1063 Application servers providing network services systems providing special services to telephonic subscribers H04M3/42

Abstract

An application server is provided for dispatching physiological signals in a hospital, in real time. Suitably, the hospital includes a local area network infrastructure with a virtual local area network supporting a voice over IP telephony application. The server comprises: means for receiving packets containing samples of a physiological signal via a first terminal connected to the virtual local area network, means for de-encapsulating a received packet containing samples of the physiological signal, at the real time transport protocol level, means for creating a second packet containing samples of the physiological signal, and forwarding the second packet back at least to the first terminal.

Claims

1. An application server that dispatches physiological signals in a hospital, in real time, the hospital comprising a local area network infrastructure with a virtual local area network supporting a voice over IP telephony application, said server comprising:

a soft phone that receives packets containing samples of a physiological signal via a first terminal connected to the virtual local area network,

a sound processing module that de-encapsulates a received packet containing samples of said physiological signal, at the real time transport protocol level, and

a loop back module that creates a second packet containing samples of said physiological signal, and forwards the second packet back at least to the first terminal.

2. The application server according to claim 1, wherein the sound processing module processes the samples of the received physiological signal;

and the loop back module inserts, into the second packet, processed samples supplied by said sound processing module.

3. The application server according to claim 1, wherein the loop back module creates a source address and a destination address by permuting the source address and the destination address of said first packet, at the real time transport protocol level.

4. The application server according to claim 1, further comprising a forwarding module that creates a third packet containing samples of said first packet, and forwards the third packet to at least a second terminal connected to the virtual local area network, by creating a point to point flow for each destination terminal.

5. The application server according to claim 4, wherein the sound processing module processes the samples of the received physiological signal;

and said forwarding module inserts, into the third packet, processed samples supplied by said sound processing module.

6. The application server according to claim 4, wherein said forwarding module creates a source address by extracting a destination address of the first packet, and creates a destination address by taking an address of the second terminal, at the real time transport protocol level.

7. The application server according to claim 1, further comprising a picture processing module that builds a series of still images that represents physical characteristics of the physiological signal, and sends each image over a user datagram protocol to at least a terminal connected to the virtual local area network.

8. The application server according to claim 1, further comprising a module that elaborates a file comprising a physiological signal and data related to a patient, and which is adapted for storing in a data base.

9. The application server according to claim 1, wherein the softphone is further operative to:

accept a phone call;

accept a conference call;

terminate adequately a call set up protocol so as to be in a position to establish a voice connection over the virtual local area network, without any specific requirement, neither from a calling party, nor from a call server; and

return to an idle state when a call is released by the terminal that has set it up.

10. A method for dispatching physiological signals in real time via a local area network infrastructure including a virtual local area network supporting a voice over IP telephony application;

said method comprising;

receiving packets containing samples of a physiological signal via a first terminal connected to the virtual local area network;

de-encapsulating the received packet containing samples of said physiological signal at a real time transport protocol level; and

creating a second packet containing samples of said physiological signal, and forwarding the second packet back at least to the first terminal.